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Watching that Dom chap on the Beeb this morning saving someone's world - the case in question is about dry rot - he's stomping about in it in his normal clothing and footwear, I was under the impression that it was transferable by spores - if so wasn't the tap dancing he was doing on the floorboards was a bit ill-advised ?
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Yes - dry rot can be catching. Although it is not so contagious, as it needs certain conditions to thrive or the spores will die.
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I've often wondered why they use any wood at all in the construction industry,
We've got plastic windows, doors and conservatories - why not go 'the whole hog'?
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Its not very rigid and is poor for major structural parts of the house, it does not breath and would cause moisture issues, performs very badly in fires, and expands and contracts too much according to temperature.
The little tykes house is about as good as one gets
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>>Its not very rigid and is poor for major structural parts of the house<<
I looked at a house a few years back and it was riddled with worm,
worm in the roof space and worm under the floor space,
That's when I thought of the idea of an alternative to wood,
My conservatory is UPVC and the (heavy) d/glazed roof takes my 13 or 14 stone (I don't use those things) when I get up there with the low mod sealant.
There are plastics/composites that WILL do the mileage and I'll wager we'll one day see something along those lines in the not-too distant future.
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Your plastic windows etc will be good for 20 years tops. Properly maintained good quality timber will last four times that easily.
Wood is a renewable resource - plastic isn't
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>>good quality timber<<
Aye, therin lies the rub :)
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Plenty of good quality timber available if people are prepared to pay for it.
I do find it as shame when people rip out perfectly good sash windows from Victorian /Edwardian houses and replace them with cheap plastic windows, completely destroying the appearance of the house.
The originals can usually be repaired and for ventilation purposes the sash window, to my mind, is the best window ever invented.
Same goes for the doors. I have never seen a plastic door that is more than a poor imitation of a decently painted wooden one
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>>Same goes for the doors. I have never seen a plastic door that is more than a poor imitation of a decently painted wooden one<<
If there is one thing I can't stand, it's plastic doors!!
How about D/G wooden sash windows comrade CG, are they OK?
The reason I ask is that I've come across a lot of wood widow frames where the sealed unit has blown, now I know that can also happen with plastic but - I found out (to my cost) that its down to the natural shrinking and expanding that ya get with wood.
Obviously there is wood and there is Wood (here we go again£)
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This guy gives a good explanation as to why many wooden framed double glazing units fail.
www.thewindowman.co.uk/window-brochure-quote.htm
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>>This guy gives a good explanation as to why many wooden framed double glazing units fail<<
An interesting & knowledgeable site comrade - enough to put ya off wooden d/g units for life!
I've changed a few sealed units myself in softwood windows and always used a 10mm spacer at the bottom of the unit, but I didn't know about the slots though.
I have always used a low modulus silicon sealant - with good results.
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>> How about D/G wooden sash windows comrade .. , are they OK?
Yes, they can be very good.
>> The reason I ask is that I've come across a lot of wood widow frames
>> where the sealed unit has blown, now I know that can also happen with plastic
>> but - I found out (to my cost) that its down to the natural shrinking
>> and expanding that ya get with wood.
It's far more likely to be poor fitting technique thatn "because it's a timber window".
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>> I do find it as shame when people rip out perfectly good sash windows from
>> Victorian /Edwardian houses and replace them with cheap plastic windows,
>> completely destroying the appearance of the house.
So do I, especially as these windows are so easy to make and mend.
>> Same goes for the doors. I have never seen a plastic door that is more
>> than a poor imitation of a decently painted wooden one
Steel doors are quite good - certainly much better than plastic.
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Only if you have a wooden leg
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Timber construction: -
Sustainable
Renewable
Efficient
Insulating
Flexible
Lightweight
Quick
Cheap
If done properly (and I stress properly), it is the best way to build a house.
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>> Timber construction: -
>>
>> Sustainable
>> Renewable
>> Efficient
>> Insulating
>> Flexible
>> Lightweight
>> Quick
>> Cheap
>>
>> If done properly (and I stress properly), it is the best way to build a
>> house.
>>
Concur.
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Dry rot is a strange animal. Lived in a Notting Hill basement in the late sixties that had a stem like a tree stem growing out of the ceiling and into the wall, or vice versa, in the lavatory. A powdering of orange spore dust was sometimes everywhere. Mind you that was an odd house. There were some Neanderthals upstairs who kept a savage German Shepherd chained permanently on the roof. Dead pigeons and used condoms used to rain into the back yard.
In the last house I lived in, a rotten landing window sill had infected the brickwork below it. The bricks seemed to have regressed to their unbaked state - you could scoop the clay out of them with your fingers. I took out all the affected ones and repaired the bit of wall with new ones and inhibitor. All still fine 25 years later when we left.
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I hope the Shepherd was a canine - otherwise it would be a really strange house ! :-)
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Is dry rot catching ? - L'escargot
